Darrell Arthur’s mom, Sandra, wore her No. 00 Kansas University jersey proudly in her front-row seat Wednesday night at Ferrell Center.
She and 24 other family members and friends made the hour-and-a-half drive from her hometown of Dallas for the game.
“Darrell’s grandmother, who is my mom, is here, as well as his cousin, aunt, uncle, his AAU coach, a host of friends and family,” Sandra said proudly.
Also on hand was Darrell’s 5-year-old brother, “Juicy,” who also was wearing a 00 jersey.
He spent some time in his mom’s arms, as well as grandma Ruby’s during the KU rout.
“When he was a baby, he used to slobber so much when I kissed him. I said, ‘You are just a juicy baby,”‘ Sandra said of the natural nickname for Darrell’s brother.
Sandra actually did a big favor for her older son, bringing him a much-appreciated gift the night before the game.
“He is a wing fanatic. He asked me to bring some wings for him and Darnell (Jackson) from ‘Wing Stop,”‘ Sandra Arthur said. “I brought 100 wings for them.”
She said her son is having a great time at KU.
“He got homesick a little after Christmas. I had to come in and baby him a bit. He’s been OK since,” Sandra said with a smile. “He’s doing well. He just has to finish it with a bang.”
She said an article in Wednesday’s Dallas Morning News that indicated he’d definitely be back for his sophomore season at KU was not necessarily correct.
Arthur will assess his pro options after the season.
“We’ll see how the leaves fall,” she said. “If he is looking good, he’ll go, but if not he’ll be back.”
¢Chatting: Arthur spoke to his high school teammate, Kevin Rogers, after the game, as well as BU coach Scott Drew. Arthur chose KU over BU in recruiting.
“It felt weird playing against him. I played with him just two years ago,” Arthur said. “It was fun, a bit competitive too.
“We just had a couple (pleasant) words,” he said of his chat with Drew. “We didn’t get to talk much. I was recruited by him strong.”
¢Robinson fares better: Russell Robinson on Wednesday returned to the scene of one of his lowest moments as a KU basketball player. During his freshman season, he declined to enter the game in the closing moments of a KU victory over the Bears.
“Villanova was the low point. Baylor took it a notch lower,” he said of consecutive January games his freshman season. He had three turnovers in just five minutes of a 83-62 loss at Nova.
“It’s in the past. A lot of things have changed since then. I’ve had a lot of fun (since then) and have a lot to look forward to in the future.”
Robinson, who celebrated his 21st birthday Wednesday, had a strong game with eight points, four assists and two steals in 22 minutes.
KU freshman Brady Morningstar celebrated his 21st birthday Tuesday. He had four points in two minutes against Baylor.
¢Stats, facts: Kansas has led at the half in 16 of 17 victories. : KU is 32-5 in its last 37 games. : The Jayhawks’ bench has outscored the opponent’s bench in 11 of the last 12 games. : KU led, 40-18, at halftime to mark its biggest halftime lead in Big 12 play and the sixth time the Jayhawks have led by 20 or more at intermission . : The Jayhawks are 10-0 when holding opponents under 60 points : The Jayhawks’ eight three-pointers were one shy of their season high (nine vs. Dartmouth). : Brandon Rush has made multiple three-pointers in each of his last four games and six of his last seven. Rush has pulled down six or more rebounds in each of his last seven games. : Julian Wright’s 16 points were the most since he scored 23 against Rhode Island on Dec. 30. : Sherron Collins scored in double figures for the fifth straight game. Collins is 9-for-14 from three-point range in his last three outings. : Jackson’s seven rebounds were the most since he had nine against USC on Dec. 4.
Kansas coach Bill Self was not only upset with the officials the first half of the Jayhawks’ 70-54 victory over South Carolina on Sunday at Colonial Center.
He also was unhappy with the rebounding of his players, who were outscrapped 20 boards to 11 the initial half.
“Coach said we were getting our butts kicked and that we had to box out,” said junior center Sasha Kaun, who had no boards but played just three minutes the first half because of early foul problems.
Led by Kaun, who had six rebounds and six points, the Jayhawks wound up outrebounding South Carolina, 31-28.
Julian Wright had seven rebounds to go with six points in 31 minutes. Brandon Rush had six boards.
KU had double-digit scorers in Mario Chalmers (19), Darrell Arthur (17) and Rush (12).
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Stats, facts: It’s believed Self’s first-half technical was the third in his four years at KU. He also received a ‘T’ in games against Oklahoma State and Richmond his first year on Mount Oread. The coach and media-relations officials could recall no other T’s for Self. : Tre’ Kelley, who missed Wednesday’s game against Western Carolina because of a sprained knee, missed 13 of 16 shots. He had 10 points, six assists and six turnovers in 37 minutes. : Brandon Wallace grabbed eight rebounds : Chalmers turned an ankle in the first half but was fine after a short stay on the bench.
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AD honored: KU athletic Lew Perkins was greeted at the Marriott Hotel on Sunday by several athletic-department members and some of his former basketball players at University of South Carolina-Aiken, where Perkins served as basketball coach and AD.
The school announced plans for a “Lew Perkins Wall of Champions” to honor athletes at the school. Several of the Aiken players and administrators spoke in a ceremony at the KU team hotel.
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This is a football school: SC media members were in a frenzy before the game when reports surfaced on a Web site that star sophomore receiver Sidney Rice was headed to the NFL.
Steve Fink, former Kansas City Royals media director who now works in a similar capacity at South Carolina, phoned coach Steve Spurrier, then confirmed to the media the junior standout was NFL-bound.
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Kansas fans: Perhaps 1,000 or so KU fans in Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and other neighboring cities took advantage of the Jayhawks’ rare appearance in the Southeast and attended the game.
Mary Rambow, who grew up in Columbia, S.C., and graduated from South Carolina, then earned a postgraduate degree at KU, made the three-hour drive from the Atlanta area with her husband, William.
William, who graduated from South Carolina, had a SC flag on his side of the car; Mary had a KU flag on her side of the car as it traveled down I-20 for the contest.
Their son currently is in grad school at SC.
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Tough home slate: The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C. points out that South Carolina’s next four home opponents all have won at least one NCAA title since 1988: KU, Florida (Saturday), Kentucky (Jan. 16) and Arkansas (Jan. 24). All four opponents have been an NCAA runner-up at least once since 1991 and seven times overall (Kentucky three times, KU twice and Florida and Arkansas once).
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Good for RPI: KU and South Carolina both have beaten Southern Cal, a team that defeated previously undefeated Oregon on Wednesday. Oregon came back to down previously unbeaten UCLA on Saturday.
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Odom likes opportunity: USC coach Dave Odom likes tough nonconference matchups like the KU game.
“I like to play coaches like Bill Self who aren’t paranoid. They’re not worried about, ‘What if I lose this game?’ They have confidence that their team’s going to play well,” Odom said. “They look at us as a quality opponent.”
Added guard Bryce Sheldon: “You look at the schedule sheet, and it says Kansas, at Georgia, then Florida.’ And you’re like, ‘Whoa,’ and you’ve got to start picking it up.”
